Last week, while I was going to town, a neighbor and friend from church asked me what I knew was an orange-like small tree that begins with C. He knew that I understood plants.
I said, “Calamondin.” I was right. My new friend owns a calamondin tree that grew a bumper fruit crop this season. When I saw the pictures of the tree loaded with calamondins, I knew it was well cared for.
My friend had eaten a few of these unusual little fruits. He found the skin was fragile for an orange, and rather than the mild tart and sweet taste of an orange, he ate a very tart and almost lime-type bite and flavor.
I like the taste of this fruit. This fruit is more unexpected than an orange flavor. While the United States was in the Philippines after World War II, we attached the name calamondin to a popular fruit, calamansi.
The name calamansi derives from the Tagalog name of kalamansi, the most widely used name in the Philippines. Here in the United States, we still use the Americanized name of calamondin.
Calamansi or Citrus x macrocarpa, experts speculate that this plant is a cross between a mandarin and a kumquat.
This cold, hardy citrus tree was introduced to the United States from China around 1900. What I find fascinating is that taste-testing experts note elements of apricot, tangerine, lemon, pineapple, and guava in the fruit.
The entire fruit is edible except for the seeds and the stems. One can find this tart fruit in many different dishes. From the 1920s to the 1950s, one could go to a Florida home and enjoy a calamondin cake because of its popularity.
Calamondin preserved as a marmalade or jam was natural. In Florida, one shall discover many of these small trees or shrubs in many backyards.
One of my memories of this plant is that we lived in Florida for three years and enjoyed some of these cakes. Before we moved to Florida, we stopped at a roadside vendor selling these small orange trees in small boxes during our visits.
My mother purchased several of them and transported one to my grandmother’s and her greenhouse. Grandmother cared for this orange tree for many years. Over the years, I’m sure that many of us have purchased these trees for our homes.
When growing calamondin for yourself, remember that this citrus shrub is hardy and suitable for 20 degrees F, which places it in hardiness zones eight and eleven. If you can grow this fruit, it will persist through the winter.
Here in Ohio, you can grow them indoors and do very well if you produce fruit. Calamondin trees are shade-tolerant yet the most productive in the full sun. Calamansi is also drought tolerant.
Water deeply as you care for the tree during extended dry periods. Fertilize during the winter with one half-strength, water-soluble fertilizer because this tree is evergreen every five weeks.
Early in the spring, add a slow-release fertilizer and use a full-strength water-soluble fertilizer each month during the growing season. Mites and scale include calamondin on their menus. Harvest calamondin with clippers or scissors to eat.
This small calamondin is best fresh or refrigerated.
The benefits of eating this fruit are significant. As a juice, calamondin is well known for weight loss, as it increases metabolism rates and destroys toxins that contribute to fat storage.
Our ability to burn calories is enhanced.
Anecdotally, cholesterol levels fall because the metabolic rates climb. Our risk of atherosclerosis, heart attack, and stroke also falls.
Intense citric acid levels in calamansi juice help cut through the phlegm and mucus, where infections often live and propagate and soothe inflammation in the throat.
People with acid reflux and gird find drinking calamansi soothing to the stomach even with the strong acid taste. Many generations have used vitamin C and other beneficial aspects to boost their immune system as it boosts white blood cells and counter the free radicals.
Vitamin C is essential to collagen production for tissues, muscles, and cells.
Calamondin juice encourages urination and flushes out the kidneys. Folks with diabetes should consider drinking calamansi juice, which moderates blood sugar in the bloodstream by regulating glucose and insulin levels.
Asians have used calamansi juice to prevent wrinkles and age spots from the antioxidants they deliver to the skin.
As a mouthwash, calamansi vitamin C prevents tooth decay, bleeding gums, gingivitis, or loosening teeth. It even helps remove stains and plaque.
I hope you have a great stroll through your indoor or outdoor garden this week. If you encounter any challenges, let me know. You can email me at ericlarson546@yahoo.com.
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